Chennai: The Egmore Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Chennai has sentenced DMK leader Sivaji Krishnamoorthy to three years of imprisonment and fined him Rs 20,000 for derogatory comments made against Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi and other political leaders in 2023.
Krishnamoorthy was charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for his remarks targeting governor Ravi, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, former minister D Jayakumar, and BJP leaders K Annamalai and Khushbu Sundar, as reported by NDTV.
The comments were allegedly made against the governor after he skipped portions of a government-approved speech in the state assembly
in 2023. Using expletives for the governor, Krishnamoorthy had said if he can’t take Ambedkar’s name, he should go to Kashmir, so he would be gunned down by extremists.
“Didn’t you take an oath in the name of the Constitution? Wasn’t it Ambedkar, my grandfather, who wrote it? If you won’t say his name, you go to Kashmir. We ourselves will send an extremist. Let him gun him down,” Krishnamoorthy had allegedly said.
There was widespread outrage after the video of his speech went viral on social media. Leaders across party lines, including those from the DMK, condemned his remarks. The DMK initially suspended him from the party, but later reinducted him, after which he continued to address public meetings.
Following his conviction, the court questioned Krishnamoorthy regarding the quantum of punishment, during which he sought leniency and requested the minimum sentence.
BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan reacted to the verdict and said: “That is the model of DMK. Whatever he spoke, rewind and see. The way they talk about women is highly atrocious.”